Wall Street’s major indexes surged on Friday as Netflix started off the quarterly results for growth firms on a positive note. Alphabet rose on news of job layoffs.
Netflix Inc rose 6.8% after the streaming business attracted more members than anticipated in Q4 and announced the departure of co-founder Reed Hastings as chief executive. Netflix’s quarterly report comes at a time when the technology sector is facing bleak prospects owing to rising interest rates and economic concerns.
This prompted corporations like Microsoft and Amazon to lay off thousands of staff. Alphabet was the most recent company to join the list, as it announced 12,000 job cuts on Friday. The company’s stock increased 4.1%.
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The increases made telecom industry stocks the top gainers among the key S&P 500 sectors, up 2.7%, followed by information technology, with Microsoft’s share price increasing 2.9%. S&P 500 finally closed in the green at 3,971.00 up +1.85%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 331 points, or 1%. Goldman Sachs shares weighed on the DJI, after the Wall Street Journal announced the Federal Reserve is investigating the company’s consumer division. Nasdaq rose 288 points, or 2.66% to 11,140.43.
Dollar closed flat as traders await new data
The EUR/USD is trading at 1.0850, steady from its starting price on Monday, as traders await a new trigger. Next week, growth-related statistics and the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product will provide answers. EUR/USD finally closed with a 0.27% gain.
GBP/USD was higher during the day and moved into the weekend flat with a 0.06% gain. Momentum is still lacking. Despite the dollar’s lack of attractiveness, dismal macroeconomic data from the United Kingdom weakens demand for the pound.
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The Bank of Canada will hold its meeting the following week. According to the market consensus, TD Securities analysts anticipate a 25-basis-point rate hike. They indicate the Canadian dollar (CAD) may not be significantly affected by the meeting’s outcome. USD/CAD closed the day 0.6% in the red
Commodities enjoy gains
Ahead of the weekend, the gold price declines from multi-month highs owing to the US dollar regaining some ground and higher US Treasury bond rates. Gold was not able to withstand worries of a US economic recession. Consequently, the XAU/USD is retreating from its highs of $1937.91, trading at $1926.42, down 0.2%.
Silver prices have risen by 27% since mid-October 2022. Some experts say this year will be good for silver as traders are looking for alternatives to its big shiny brother. Silver futures for March delivery closed with a 0.85% gain.
Henry Hub natural gas futures continued the fall this week with almost a 5% drop. Gas is piling on to the 48% decline over the last month, as temperatures remained high.
Oil crudes both closed in the green. UK traded Brent finished the week at $87.74 with a 1.83% gain. US crude WTI managed to extend the price above $81 at $81.84 with a 1.54% gain.
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